Hanoi moves families out of tourist area

10/14/2013

Authorities in Hanoi have announced plans to move thousands of residents out of the city’s main tourist district, the Old Quarter.

The Vietnam News Service (VNS) reported last week that project will move 1,530 families currently living in the Old Quarter to a new “residential area” in Long Bien district, across the Red River.

“Households encroaching on historic relics will be first on the list,” Pham Tuan Long, deputy head of the Old Quarter Management Board, was quoted saying. “Then come households living next to or inside state agencies, schools and hospitals and volunteer families.”

Once the first phase of the relocation is completed in 2016, it will be followed by an even bigger project, shifting a further 5,000 families out of their Old Quarter homes. This is expected to be completed by 2020.The district is home to several ancient buildings and temples, and authorities said the project was intended to restore the area’s cultural heritage. It is not clear how much compensation the families are being offered.